Hawkeyes Ignore The Hype Of The Week

Playing at Michigan keeps Iowa focused.

Cedrick Lattimore needs tickets.

The Iowa defensive tackle, who grew up in Redford, Mich., is going home this weekend when the 14th-ranked Hawkeyes play at No. 18 Michigan.

“I tried to get, like, 20,” Lattimore said earlier this week. “I’m trying to get a couple more.”

Michigan Stadium has a seating capacity of 107,601, but these are difficult tickets to get.

This may have the feel of a big game, but the Hawkeyes were downplaying all of that earlier this week.

“To me, it’s another stadium, another game,” wide receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette said.

“We’ve played big games,” running back Toren Young said. “We’ve played Big Ten games. We’ve had experience doing it. The approach is the same, no matter what game it is, where it’s at, what time it’s at.”

Smith-Marsette and Young are juniors, Lattimore is a senior. They’ve seen plenty in their careers.

That, coach Kirk Ferentz said, is important to handling an atmosphere like what the Hawkeyes will see in Saturday’s 11 a.m. game.

“Maturity helps. Experience and maturity help,” Ferentz said. “But really the trick is just to focus on the game, as simple as that sounds. But it's like everything. Focusing on what's important, it's tougher and tougher to do than any one time we've ever had probably, so I think that's really the key is understanding that once the game gets going, it's all about the game, and it's all about our preparation and staying focused on that. I think that's probably the biggest thing.”

The Hawkeyes have already had one road game, an 18-17 victory at Iowa State on Sept. 14 — a day full of the usual rivalry hostility combined with the weirdness of two weather delays that combined lasted almost three hours.

“It’s no different than a couple weeks ago. If you go in there wide-eyed and you're paying attention to everything going on outside of what's going on on the field, it's going to work to your disadvantage,” Ferentz said. “Older guys tend to understand that better, but it's still a challenge.”

The Hawkeyes don’t seem to mind that challenge.

“I know guys like me, you definitely feed off that,” said defensive end Chauncey Golston, who grew up in Detroit. “If you’re a competitor, you like being in situations where you’re not welcome.

“You’re not the joy of the town.”

Lattimore has been to Michigan Stadium before, but wasn’t a Michigan fan.

“I watched Michigan State for basketball,” he said.

And the Wolverines didn’t recruit him.

“It’s a little motivation. I think a lot of guys here play with a chip on their shoulders,” Lattimore said.

But asked if he could get too excited about the game, Lattimore went back to the standard feeling of the week.

“I’m kind of calm with it, know what I mean?” he said. “I’m just trying to do my job here at Iowa, and that’s the interior of the (defensive) line.”

All of that comes with experience.

“Don’t listen to it. Take it with a grain of salt. In one ear, out the other,” Smith-Marsette said. “You go out there, you stay hard-nosed.

“You don’t really worry about the outside world. When it’s time to come on Saturday, after the game, that’s when we’ll let you know what happened.”